“The two rules of procrastination: 1) Do it today. 2) Tomorrow will be today tomorrow”
It seems rather oxy-moronic to have ‘procrastination’ and Business school in the same sentence, let alone so close to each other. But I have always found myself weirdly attracted to this word – “procrastination”. Many hours of many days have been spent pondering over the beauty of a word that can sound so complex for such a simple demand on action – nothingness! Remarkable!
Well let’s review some facts – it’s week 10 into the second semester at NUS, and to say the very least the pace of things of changed as compared with semester 1. By the end of semester 1 – everyone was passing through such a dark and evil tunnel – where despair was all consuming and all rays of hope and happiness had been absolved into piles of assignments and deadlines for projects and exams. Every single senior who warned us to brave it out because 2nd semester gets ‘apparently’ less demanding – we were sure was either a sadist and wanted to revel in our misery or was just to cuckoo to be taken seriously. How could this endless black hole possibly get any better…!!!
It seems rather oxy-moronic to have ‘procrastination’ and Business school in the same sentence, let alone so close to each other. But I have always found myself weirdly attracted to this word – “procrastination”. Many hours of many days have been spent pondering over the beauty of a word that can sound so complex for such a simple demand on action – nothingness! Remarkable!
Well let’s review some facts – it’s week 10 into the second semester at NUS, and to say the very least the pace of things of changed as compared with semester 1. By the end of semester 1 – everyone was passing through such a dark and evil tunnel – where despair was all consuming and all rays of hope and happiness had been absolved into piles of assignments and deadlines for projects and exams. Every single senior who warned us to brave it out because 2nd semester gets ‘apparently’ less demanding – we were sure was either a sadist and wanted to revel in our misery or was just to cuckoo to be taken seriously. How could this endless black hole possibly get any better…!!!
The good thing is – now on the sunny side of the 1st semester (read away from it), we are all so glad that the predictions came true. But what has led to this change of pace – it’s not like we have any fewer modules (in fact most people have more this semester), or have we actually become ‘smart’ workers beyond just hard workers. Or maybe have we all just given up to the paces of normal personally defined behaviour and a couldn’t-care-a-damn attitude? Maybe some parts of all of them.
But like I said – it’s not like this semester is any less active. As soon as we landed back from a very well-deserved five week recess break in December back to school in the New Year, we were greeted with open arms with ‘Intensive week’. Which is the school’s way saying where your party comes to an end we roll out the black carpet for our party! So we end up doing two modules worth 2 credits each in a week. As always the silver lining for some – the free breakfast, lunches and snacks!
Then came “Shopping Week”. Shopping for modules that is (before you may wonder what groceries have to do with the MBA). And from there on it was a matter of worrying about books, management practicums, where to go travelling during the Chinese New Year long weekend or next during the recess week, Study trips to India and Taiwan prep, semester exchange applications, debating about the exchange itself - to go in the summer or autumn or to go at all or not, and the best and most worrisome of them all the internship hunt!
Plus, if first semester was all about our cohort expressing our un-ending love for food with the “national lunches” organized by the Koreans, Chinese, Indian and Japanese, apart from the Fresher’s Party, the International Day party, Halloween, Diwali, Cerebration, Term-end parties etc etc. … the second semester had its own set of unique outings to guide us along the weeks of working.
Phew…that was one long list. (not used to so much typing nowadays)! No wonder no one cares about studies and modules this semester. There is ample distraction away from the rigours of academia! Oh and did we mention the big festive celebrations of the Chinese New Year and Holi, as well by far the most ‘happening’ club – the social activities pulling out all the stops with planning all the parties this semester.
This semester has its fair share of casualties as well though. 1st semester was all about the viral fever, the flu, the cold and coughs…but this semester things got serious. People fell and sprained ankles while running to catch flights to Bali, were admitted for irregular heartbeats as a result of wanting to jog and run with a mild flu, getting a fractured arm because time allowed cycling through the city! So even though the activities that got them injured were all very different from causes of the 1st semester, they were serious and we wish them a very quick recovery.
So on Fool’s Day as I write this blog – I wonder how the last four weeks of the semester are going to be! The latest addition to the Student Lounge – the massage chair seems like a good place to hang out when at school and class-less, or trying to get past the local favourite pastime of crushing candies on my phone (damn you level 29) – it’s actually astonishing to see the number of people in the city playing the same thing!
Or maybe I will just sit out in my Procrastinators corner practising some things this semester has taught me. To begin with the fact that “in the long run we are all dead” – sounds perfect to me into believing a false security that I can relax now for the end is far away and so are the assignment deadlines and the final exams. Like good cost managers account for some laziness and making activity-based excuses to plan to do nothing because getting a head start into meeting deadlines these days is so passé. Let the Operations define the processes of denial of time surrounding me well for now. And ultimately as I will get rewarded by generous dollops of a currently foreseeable CRISIS (in this case would potentially be multiple) apply sound Corporate Strategy of understanding my competition, the rivalry in the industry, the buyers who would hopefully still find me an attractive investment and finally as most strategies – follow a path of diversification between the non-essential and essential deadlines!
Ah! Pope Francis – on this weekend of Easter and as the world celebrates your ordinance, I pray you pray for me. Relieve my humble self from the shackles of procrastination or else I will be very soon – gradeless, jobless and pennyless, exactly the things we want more of, not less! Amen!
Nationality: Indian
Full-Time student, Class of 2014
